Shadow of a Doubt

The first film we watched in class was Shadow of a Doubt from 1943 directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film starts with the opening credits in front of dancers. The music which is played in the background is called Merry Widow which is very opera style and parallel to the scene. You as the audience wonder why this is significant to the film and is a mystery as to why. This then makes the audience what to watch on to find out which I hope to do in my thriller film to create that atmosphere. It then goes to a pan shot of an American setting to San Francisco's bridge to children playing in the street. The camera then zooms into a typical hotel room where the main character, Uncle Charlie is lying on the bed in the darkness. The room number is 13 which is seem as an unlucky number which gets the audience thinking if this is a safe place. This is the first time we see Uncle Charlie positioned on the bed static. His costume is a suit which is immaculate and his hair and makeup are done to perfection. This tells us that he is very wealthy and because he has a cigar and money set on the floor this supports this.  However because the money is thrown on the floor and he is in a little, shabby hotel room shows that he doesn't think too highly of money. The inn keeper then walks in and has a mainly one sided conversation with Uncle Charlie. Hitchcock does this as there is not a great deal of dialogue so the audience can concentrate on the character and the music in the scene. When she is there she tells Uncle Charlie that there are two men asking for him. This makes the audience wonder why the two men were looking for him and why it is so urgent that they do. This also makes us question if we can trust this character and if he is the protagonist or the antagonist. Moreover when the inn keeper closes the blind on Uncle Charlie he goes into the darkness which suggests he has a dark personality. Hitchcock does this because he is going from light to dark. Also the music goes very dark and is parallel to this scene as a few moments later he smashes a glass against the wall. This illustrates that he has a very sort temper and is hot headed. We then go to the American location of Santa Barbara. Hitchcock chose this specific location because at the time it was considered the nicest place to live in America. We then see the next main character also named Charlie laying on the bed in the light. This is mirrored to Uncle Charlie when he is laying on the bed to her laying on the bed. Hitchcock does this duality to imply that one of these characters is the protagonist and one is the antagonist as they are the same but opposites of each other.

Charlie laying on the bed in the light 

Uncle Charlie Laying on the bed in the dark